www.saintsalive.com

Web Update April 2008

A Note From Ed

Ok... Just once in a while I have to talk about politics and its effects on the Christian church and people.

I have been doing my best to wait out the Democratic demolition derby until we see how the chips fall, but I do have some real opinions and advice.

On the Republican side, a lot of speculation and benign comments from the Mormon side about Mitt Romney being the perfect running mate for McCain.  We will see.  The Mormon Plan For America will not change if he isn’t. Just expect the Mormons to be there in force for every election at every level until the one coming again in 4 years.  Every word I said about this in my book, My Kingdom Come is true.

Now I am going to say a few things about one candidate and it is not   political, but truly theological. I don’t want to come across as a “Typical White Person” as he called his grandmother when he compared her to his pastor. I am amazed that this candidate is coming across like a rock star, as the new messiah with a charismatic flow to his words and actions. Yet, as I study his writings and background, I am concerned, not with his aspirations or qualifications, but his ties to Islam and Black Liberation theology.

We have all seen the short clips of his pastor shouting God Damn America while his church people danced and shouted around him.

Much has been said about using just a few seconds of a clip to judge a man or a theological position. However, if one goes to the church website and reads through the material, it is clear that the candidate has sat under an anti-white, anti-American theological teaching for 20 years.  If he is so dense as not to have noted it, he is the last person we want as our president. When the church honored militant   Louis Farrakhan, there should have been flags raised. This candidate has high level Nation of Islam people on his Senate staff and on his campaign team.

When you see that he started out his education in a Catholic School registered as an active Muslim, known for his devotion to the Koran, his conversion and devotion to the Lord should be questioned. When he says that during his first days as president, he will gather together Muslim world leaders to deal with Islamic position in the world, one need to be concerned.

I didn’t bring up this subject, but you need to understand the theology he has sat under all these years. The first article after my Note is a statement about what Black Liberation Theology really is all about. Please read it.

Meanwhile, as some of you have known, I have been fighting some health battles since last summer but a few trips to the Mayo Clinic and some doctors who work as a team have found the root causes and in just a few weeks, I am back to full health and bursting with energy. 

I am excited about the ministry and its effect around the world. Hundreds of thousands of people from almost every nation have visited the website and over the last ten years, they have downloaded millions of pages of material in nine different languages.  But, we are struggling to add more materials and resources.

If you can, would you please take a few minutes and make a donation to the ministry by going to our home page and clicking the "donation" button.

Keeping our website up on our own server and also making room for a number of other ministries there is an expensive project, but if those who use it regularly send in a donation now and then, it will cover the costs and allow us to expand the site with many more articles, books and audio teachings.  We are in a slow process of a web redesign that will include a blog where you can interact with me.

Please pray about how you can support this work with your gift and your prayers. We are in a battle for lost souls and while it is sometimes slow going, every one who escapes from spiritual bondage gets to go to heaven…and I will not let a day go by without reaching out for that next one.

Your brother in Christ,

PS...Website was down...

Our web service provider experienced a server crash on Friday April 18 and our saintsalive.com website was down and off the web until sometime on Monday the 21st. If you were looking for us we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Also, please note that during that time if you attempted to send any email to any of the saintsalive.com email addresses (such as my own at ed@saintsalive.com) they were lost in cyber space! Please re-send them to us now. Thanks!

What is Black Liberation Theology?

Wright's Black Liberation Theology
By Anthony B. Bradley

What is Black liberation theology anyway? Barrack Obama's former pastor, Jeremiah Wright catapulted black liberation theology onto a national stage, when America discovered Trinity United Church of Christ. Understanding the background of the movement might give better clarity into Wright's recent vitriolic preaching. A clear definition of Black theology was first given formulation in 1969 by the National Committee of Black Church Men in the midst of the civil-rights movement:

"Black theology is a theology of black liberation. It seeks to plumb the black condition in the light of God's revelation in Jesus Christ; so that the black community can see that the gospel is commensurate with the achievements of black humanity. Black theology is a theology of 'blackness.' It is the affirmation of black humanity that emancipates black people from White racism, thus providing authentic freedom for both White and black people. It affirms the humanity of White people in that it says 'No' to the encroachment of White oppression."

In the 1960s, Black churches began to focus their attention beyond helping Blacks cope with national racial discrimination particularly in urban areas.

The notion of "Blackness" is not merely a reference to skin color, but rather is a symbol of oppression that can be applied to all persons of color who have a history of oppression (except Whites, of course). So in this sense, as Wright notes, "Jesus was a poor black man" because he lived in oppression at the hands of "rich White people." The overall emphasis of Black liberation theology is the Black struggle for liberation from various forms of "White racism" and oppression.

James Cone, the chief architect of black liberation theology in his book A Black Theology of Liberation (1970), develops Black theology as a system. In this new formulation, Christian theology is a theology of liberation--"a rational study of the being of God in the world in light of the existential situation of an oppressed community, relating the forces of liberation to the essence of the gospel, which is Jesus Christ," writes Cone. Black consciousness and the Black experience of oppression orient black liberation theology--i.e., one of victimization from White oppression.

One of the tasks of Black theology, says Cone, is to analyze the nature of the gospel of Jesus Christ in light of the experience of oppressed Blacks. For Cone, no theology is Christian theology unless it arises from oppressed communities and interprets Jesus' work as that of liberation. Christian theology is understood in terms of systemic and structural relationships between two main groups: victims (the oppressed) and victimizers (oppressors). In Cone's context, writing in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the great event of Christ's liberation was freeing African Americans from the centuries-old tyranny of White racism and White oppression.

American White theology, which Cone never clearly defines, is charged with having failed to help Blacks in the struggle for liberation. Black theology exists because "White religionists" failed to relate the gospel of Jesus to the pain of being Black in a White racist society.

For Black theologians White Americans do not have the ability to recognize the humanity in persons of color, Blacks need their own theology to affirm their identity in terms of a reality that is anti-Black--Blackness stands for all victims of White oppression. "White theology," when formed in isolation from the Black experience, becomes a theology of White oppressors, serving as divine sanction from criminal acts committed against Blacks.

Cone argues that even those White theologians who try to connect theology to Black suffering rarely utter a word that is relevant to the Black experience in America. White theology is not Christian theology at all. There is but one guiding principle of Black theology: an unqualified commitment to the Black community as that community seeks to define its existence in the light of God's liberating work in the world.

As such, Black theology is a survival theology because it helps Blacks navigate White dominance in American culture. In Cone's view, Whites consider Blacks animals, outside of the realm of humanity, and attempted to destroy Black identity through racial assimilation and integration programs--as if Blacks have no legitimate existence apart from Whiteness. Black theology is the theological expression of a people deprived of social and political power. God is not the God of White religion but the God of Black existence. In Cone's understanding, truth is not objective but subjective--a personal experience of the Ultimate in the midst of degradation.

The echoes of Cone's theology bled through, the now infamous, anti-Hilary excerpt by Rev. Wright. Clinton is among the oppressing class ("rich White people") and is incapable of understanding oppression ("ain't never been called a n-gg-r") but Jesus knows what it was like because he was "a poor black man" oppressed by "rich White people." While black liberation theology is not main stream in most black churches, many pastors in Wright's generation are burdened by Cone's categories which laid the foundation for many to embrace Marxism and a distorted self-image of perpetual "victim" which we be explored in the next two columns. 

Anthony B. Bradley is a research fellow at the Acton Institute, and assistant professor of theology at Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis. His PhD dissertation is titled, "Victimology in Black Liberation Theology."

Vandalism case against Mormons dropped
Catholic bishop urges Christian forgiveness for desecration of shrine

Posted: March 24, 2008
10:02 pm Eastern

© 2008 WorldNet Daily

A criminal investigation focusing on three Mormon missionaries who were photographed defacing a Catholic shrine has been dropped after the Catholic bishop in the San Luis Valley of Colorado where the incident happened urged forgiveness.

According to reports in the Denver Post and the Pueblo Chieftain, the three missionaries had been shown in photos posted on the Internet at the Shrine of the Mexican Martyrs at the Chapel of All Saints on a butte overlooking the town of San Luis.

The photographs were taken in 2006 and showed the men preaching from the Book of Mormon at the shrine's altar, pretending to offer sacrifices at the site, and holding a head that apparently had been broken off a statue there.

fyi

A Mormon Mason: New grand master is the first in a century who is LDS

http://deseretnews.com/article/content/mobile/0,5223,695265549,00.html

The Church of Oprah exposed.  It could not be clearer.

See the excellent 7-minute video and the teaching that may take millions to hell: http://youtube.com/watch?v=JW4LLwkgmqA

My Kingdom Come: The Mormon Quest for Godhood I need your help...

The book is doing well and reports come in that it is the best study of Mormonism yet.

 But, I need your help to expand its distribution.

Here is what you can do right now:

1) Order one for your pastor. It should be on every pastor’s desk.
2) Order a loan copy from your local library. That will get at least one copy in library circulation
3) Order one from your local Christian bookstore and ask for one at stores like Barnes and Nobles that show it in their booklist but may not have a copy in the store.
4) Order one for yourself at Saints Alive Bookstore (linked on our home page)

Another Great Book at Amazon.com  I have known Christine Carroll for probably 30 years and this is a book that will change lives. Christine describes her Journey from Mormonism in her attempt to vindicate Mormonism ...and her consequent departure from the Mormon Faith. Get the book at: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/customer-images/1430304936/ref=cm_ciu_pdp_images_all#gallery

Fyi

Number One YouTube Video on Mormonism

Cartoon banned by the Mormon church

Some bizarre Mormon teachings about the supposed origins of mankind. Turns out we're all from other planets??...Bizarre Mormon Religion Alien Life UFO

Views: 1,360,745
(as of Friday 4/25/08)

“When words no longer have meaning”

Dr. Ron Carlson www.Jude3.com

This political season is exposing a major crisis in America and especially the church.  It is not over a political or moral issue, but over the lack of knowledge in the basic definition of what the word “Christian” means.  For 2,000 years the word Christian has meant one who believes the basic tenets of Biblical Christianity.  Sadly, in today’s postmodern 21^st century thinking the majority of Americans seem to think that anyone who claims to be Christian is a Christian, even if they reject every major tenet of God’s revelation in the Bible.

What if a political candidate said, “I’m a Christian and believe in God and Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the Savior of the world”, would you say they are a Christian?  What if that same person had also sworn blood oaths of allegiance to a Church, as a High Priest in a Temple, and his definition of God is that God is a finite man with a body of flesh and bone, who is god only over planet earth.  What if that man believes that God evolved from mortal man and that he, too, can become a God.  What if he believed that God was a polygamist married in heaven to multiple wives.  What if that man believed there were millions of Gods, including mother gods, and we were all sexual offspring of mother and father God?  Would you now say he is a “Christian”?

What if that man’s definition of Jesus Christ is that Jesus is the brother of Lucifer (Satan) and that Jesus evolved to become one of millions of Gods?  What if that man believed that it was Jesus sweating in the Garden of Gethsemane that opened up Universal Salvation to all men in one of three heavens?  What if that man believed African-Americans were cursed with black skin because they refused to fight in a war in heaven between two brothers, Jesus and Lucifer?  What if that man believed that the Gospel had been lost for 1800 years and was restored by a teenager in New York in 1830 by a revelation from a “messenger of light” who said that all the Christians Churches were wrong and all the creeds and teachings of Christianity were an abomination?  Would you still believe he is a “Christian”?

Sadly, because of the dearth of Biblical teaching in churches today, many have no problems in accepting this man’s word that he, too, is a “true Christian”.  With such a lack of knowledge and discernment the church is clearly in a “Code Blue” for its spiritual health!  Jude 3 says that as Christians we must “contend earnestly for the Faith, delivered once for all time unto the saints”.  This is a mandate as never before!

Taking God out of Government... How?

It was set up under His Favor and Guidance.

by Ed Decker

It amazes me to see groups like the ACLU and other anti – Christian organizations work so fervently to remove anything relating to God from the public buildings and lands of our nation.

Whether it is the removal of the Ten Commandments from local, state and federal courts, schools and parks or Crosses from the sides of mountains or efforts to replace the grave markers of fallen soldiers, Christian heroes who died for the freedoms we have inherited and these groups abuse, the attacks are unending and grow I intensity every year.

However, the very State Constitutions they try to use to do their dirty work are based upon the faith of those who drew them up.  The constitutions of states like Alabama are established under the favor and guidance of Almighty God… State Preambles across the nation; clearly base their constitutions on the favor and blessing of Almighty God…

Is Oath Breaking A lack of Integrity?

Dear Mr. Decker:
I found your article on the web "Free masonry and the church." I was deeply troubled by your de facto admission of having broken the oaths you took when you went through the Mormon temple. You wrote "I shared some things about the temple like the oaths that we took, the symbolism, some of the signs and tokens and the apron that Lucifer, who is the instructor in part of the Mormon temple ritual, wore."

I have no objection to your having left the Mormon Church, nor do I object to your right to oppose Mormonism or Mormons. Furthermore, I do not claim that the temple rituals are unknown outside of the temple. (They have been published long before you came along.) Furthermore, I do even suggest that you must to hold to the belief that the ceremony is "true". None of this is particularly relevant to my concern.

What bothers me is that you break your integrity by breaking your oath. If this sounds like an accusation, then let me be absolutely clear. I accuse you of being a man without integrity because you freely break an oath that was freely taken.

Regardless of your views for or against the Mormon Church, Mormon doctrine, or Mormons themselves, and regardless of whether your views are correct or not, as a man who breaks an oath you are a man who deserves no respect.

Sincerely,
Alan

Dear Alan,

If I were in a satanic death cult and swore blood oaths of allegiance to the cult and participated in  human sacrifice and then repented and turned them in to the police and testified against them, in your mind I would be a man without integrity.

I was in a cult, involved in non-biblical temple rituals that required I take blood oaths, repented and revealed to the world what was being done behind those doors, under the cloak of spiritual darkness.

The Bible says...

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9(for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.  12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. 13 But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. 14 Therefore He says:

"Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light."
Eph 5:8-14 NKJV

 Jesus Forbids Oaths!

"Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.'  34 But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God's throne;  35 nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.  36 Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.  37 But let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No.' For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.  Matt 5:33-37
NKJV

James confirmed it when he said:

12 But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your "Yes" be "Yes," and your "No," "No," lest you fall into judgment.   James 5:12-13 NKJV

Now if the bible says to reprove those works and Jesus says that the oaths I swore came from the evil one, and James says they bring judgment, then I surely take no condemnation from you in the matter.

 Ed Decker

Slavery, Terrorism and Islam:

The Historical Roots and Contemporary Threat

Adapted from Dr. Peter Hammond's book: Slavery, Terrorism and Islam: The Historical Roots and Contemporary Threat

Islam is not a religion nor is it a cult. It is a complete system.

Islam has religious, legal, political, economic and military components.  The religious component is a beard for all the other components.

Islamization occurs when there are sufficient Muslims in a country to agitate for their so-called "religious rights."

When politically correct and culturally diverse societies agree to "the reasonable" Muslim demands for their "religious rights," they also get the other components under the table. Here's how it works (percentages source CIA: The World Fact Book 2007).

As long as the Muslim population remains around 1% of any given country they will be regarded as a peace-loving minority and not as a threat to anyone. In fact, they may be featured in articles and films, stereotyped for their colorful uniqueness:

United States -- Muslim 1.0%
Australia -- Muslim 1.5%
Canada -- Muslim 1.9%
China -- Muslim 1%-2%
Italy -- Muslim 1.5%
Norway -- Muslim 1.8%
 
At 2% and 3% they begin to proselytize from other ethnic minorities and disaffected groups with major recruiting from the jails and among street gangs:

Denmark -- Muslim 2%
Germany -- Muslim 3.7%
United Kingdom -- Muslim 2.7%
Spain -- Muslim 4%
Thailand -- Muslim 4.6%

From 5% on they exercise an inordinate influence in proportion to their percentage of the population.

They will push for the introduction of halal (clean by Islamic standards) food, thereby securing food preparation jobs for Muslims.  They will increase pressure on supermarket chains to feature it on their shelves -- along with threats for failure to comply. (United States).
 
France -- Muslim 8%
Philippines -- Muslim 5%
Sweden -- Muslim 5%
Switzerland -- Muslim 4.3%
The Netherlands -- Muslim 5.5%
Trinidad & Tobago -- Muslim 5.8%
 
At this point, they will work to get the ruling government to allow them to rule themselves under Sharia, the Islamic Law. The ultimate goal of Islam is not to convert the world but to establish Sharia law over the
entire world.

When Muslims reach 10% of the population, they will increase lawlessness as a means of complaint about their conditions (Paris -- car-burnings).  Any non-Muslim action that offends Islam will result in uprisings and threats (Amsterdam -- Mohammed cartoons).
 
Guyana -- Muslim 10%
India -- Muslim 13.4%
Israel -- Muslim 16%
Kenya -- Muslim 10%
Russia -- Muslim 10-15%

After reaching 20% expect hair-trigger rioting, jihad militia formations, sporadic killings and church and synagogue burning:

Ethiopia -- Muslim 32.8%

At 40% you will find widespread massacres, chronic terror attacks and ongoing militia warfare:

Bosnia -- Muslim 40%
Chad -- Muslim 53.1%
Lebanon -- Muslim 59.7%
 
From 60% you may expect unfettered persecution of non-believers and other religions, sporadic ethnic cleansing (genocide), use of Sharia Law as a weapon and Jizya, the tax placed on infidels:

Albania -- Muslim 70%
Malaysia -- Muslim 60.4%
Qatar -- Muslim 77.5%
Sudan -- Muslim 70%  

After 80% expect State run ethnic cleansing and genocide:

Bangladesh -- Muslim 83%
Egypt -- Muslim 90%
Gaza -- Muslim 98.7%
Indonesia -- Muslim 86.1%
Iran -- Muslim 98%
Iraq -- Muslim 97%
Jordan -- Muslim 92%
Morocco -- Muslim 98.7%
Pakistan -- Muslim 97%
Palestine -- Muslim 99%
Syria -- Muslim 90%
Tajikistan -- Muslim 90%
Turkey -- Muslim 99.8%
United Arab Emirates -- Muslim 96%

100% will usher in the peace of "Dar-es-Salaam" -- the Islamic House of Peace -- there's supposed to be peace because everybody is a Muslim:

Afghanistan -- Muslim 100%
Saudi Arabia -- Muslim 100%
Somalia -- Muslim 100%
Yemen -- Muslim 99.9%

Of course, that's not the case. To satisfy their blood lust, Muslims then start killing each other for a variety of reasons.

"Before I was nine I had learned the basic canon of Arab life. It was me against my brother; me and my brother against our father; my family against my cousins and the clan; the clan against the tribe; and the tribe against the world and all of us against the infidel. -- Leon Uris, "The Haj"

It is good to remember that in many, many countries, such as France, the Muslim populations are centered around ghettos based on their ethnicity. Muslims do not integrate into the community at large. Therefore, they exercise more power than their national average would indicate.

Adapted from Dr. Peter Hammond's book:
Slavery, Terrorism and Islam: The Historical Roots and Contemporary Threat
www.frontline.org.za/books_videos/sti.htm

Finally…. The State Of Texas Moves Against Polygamy

400+ kids taken from polygamist compound

By MICHELLE ROBERTS, Associated Press Writer Mon Apr 7, 7:46 PM ET

ELDORADO, Texas - More than 400 children, mostly girls in pioneer dresses, were swept into state custody from a polygamist sect in what authorities described Monday as the largest child-welfare operation in Texas history.

The days long raid on the sprawling compound built by now-jailed polygamist leader Warren Jeffs was sparked by a 16-year-old girl's call to authorities that she was being abused and that girls as young as 14 and 15 were being forced into marriages with much older men.

Dressed in home-sewn, ankle-length dresses with their hair pinned up in braids, some 133 women left the Yearning for Zion Ranch of their own volition along with the children.

State troopers were holding an unknown number of men in the compound until investigators finished executing a house-to-house search of the 1,700-acre property, which includes a medical facility, numerous large housing units and an 80-foot white limestone temple that rises discordantly out of the brown scrub.

"In my opinion, this is the largest endeavor we've ever been involved in the state of Texas," said Children's Protective Services spokesman Marleigh Meisner, who said she was also involved in the 1993 siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco.

The members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints spent their days raising numerous children, tilling small gardens and doing chores. But at least one former resident says life was not some idyllic replica of 19th-century life. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080407/ap_on_re_us/polygamist_retreat

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